HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBAL: Bobcats net key win over Rebels

Central still in playoff race

SAN ANGELO, Texas - To call Friday night’s District 2-5A boys basketball game between Central and Midland Lee big would not have been wrong, but it would have been a huge understatement.

The two schools are locked in a three-way battle along with Midland High for what looks like the final playoff spot in the district with just more than two weeks to play.

The Bobcats came up with a surprising win against Lee on the road in Midland on Dec. 20, but coming off an emotional loss at the buzzer against Abilene Cooper, it would have been easy to dismiss Central’s chances.

Buoyed by a big fourth quarter from Jared Owens and Jacob Rangel and a boisterous student section, the Bobcats earned a difficult 57-50 win.

“Our guys knew what was on the line and what was at stake,” Central coach Jaime Boswell said. “We could have easily faded away after our loss Tuesday at the buzzer. We could have felt sorry for ourselves, but we didn’t. These kids stepped up and played a heck of a game.”

Central actually trailed 37-36 going into the final eight minutes, after Lee’s Jordan Williams hit a jumper for two of his 15 points to give the Rebels the lead.

Brock Barger opened the quarter with a jumper from the wing and Kyle Lara dove for a loose ball and called a timeout to send the crowd into a roar.

On the ensuing possession, Owens hit the first of his two triples in the fourth quarter to give Central some cushion. He hit the second little more than 90 seconds later and Central led by five, 44-39.

Rangel assisted on the second trey and then started scoring himself, nailing a driving layup and then hitting a runner with 2:38 to play.

Lee then started to squeeze as much as it could out of the clock, trying to score quickly and sending the Bobcats to the line.

After Barger missed three straight with less than two minutes to play, Lara and Rangel teamed to go 8-for-8 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to solidify the win.

“We needed this game to try to get into the playoffs,” Rangel said. “We worked hard (on) Midland Lee to get this win. We came back and worked our butts off.

“The student section was definitely a big help tonight.”

Rangel said the large, raucous Central students hyped up the team and the Bobcats fed off the energy down the stretch.

“Jacob tried to do too much early on, but he wanted it late and you saw that,” Boswell said of his guard. “In that stretch of the game he took it to them. That was good.”

Rangel finished with 11 points, second on the team behind Barger’s 13. Owens added nine — all on 3-pointers.

Linwood Pulley also provided the Bobcats with a spark from the bench scoring six key points and being active on the glass.

Midland Lee had three players finish in double figures, among several who were mired in foul trouble.

Williams topped the team with 15 and Donald Ekman and Anthony McCoy each finished with 13 points.

“Every game that we are going to have from here on out is going to be close,” Boswell said. “It is going to be tough because every one is going to be for a playoff spot. We want to be in this position and our kids came through.”